Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder are on a mission to prove their worthiness in the Western Conference at the start of the season. While they haven't gotten off to the best of starts, the Thunder will continue to try and turn things around against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
Gilgeous-Alexander figured the best way to turn the Nets upside down was by catching their leader Kevin Durant slipping. The 24-year-old talent hit the former OKC MVP Durant with an up-and-under before scoring a layup in the first quarter:
SGA putting the moves on ‘em 😯 pic.twitter.com/EqBBO7Go5w
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 10, 2021
How far Oklahoma can go this season directly depends on the production of Gilgeous-Alexander can take them. He's averaging 19.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists through his first eight games. His ability to make his team better without a true general like Chris Paul around anymore has been apparent. Head coach Billy Donovan is clearly banking on his ceiling given that Gilgeous-Alexander's 27.2 percent usage rate, the highest mark of his career.
His stats will have to continue if the Thunder plan on being successful. They've broken even with a 4-4 record so far, winning their last two games against the New York Knicks and the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Thunder went through a substantial rebuild during the offseason after trading Chris Paul and adding an incredible amount of draft picks to their vault for the foreseeable future. After losing the talents of Paul, Dennis Schroder and Steven Adams, the Thunder were thought to be far out of the playoff picture this season, which still could be the case.
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